After Statistics Canada reported that police-reported crime was at its lowest level in 40 years, Vic Toews tweeted "Crime rate down 6% -- shows CPC tough on crime is working." I couldn't really understand how Bill C-10, which doesn't even begin to come into force until August 9 of this year, could somehow be responsible for a drop in crime in previous years. But then I realized...Toews must be the MP version of The Terminator: "A human-looking, apparently unstoppable cyborg (or in this case, Public Safety Minister) is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor (or in this case, crime)."

Prisons seem to be the Conservative mental health and housing strategy. Perhaps if they transferred the resources they've budgeted for expanded prisons to proper investments in housing, mental health and education, we would make real progress in creating truly safe communities.

It is simply not a socially and economically healthy policy for society to say once a person is found guilty or pleads guilty, that we must, "throw the book at them." Also, we should also not lose sight of the benefit of a simple concept: mercy.